Capsicum Pubescens Pepper Species

Capsicum Pubescens Peppers

Capsicum pubescens is found in cultivation primarily in north-western South America, as well as southern Central America. It has been cultivated in Bolivia and Peru for thousands of years. It is commonly called rocoto (Quechua: ruqutu) and locoto (Aymara: luqutu). It is among the oldest of domesticated peppers, up to as much as 5000 years ago by the Incas. The word "pubescens", means hairy, refering to the hairy leaves of the plant. The hairs and the black seeds, distinguish this species from others. As they reach a relatively advanced age they can be refereed to as The Tree Chili. They quickly grow into 4 meter woody plants and live up to 15 years, giving them an almost tree-like appearance.

A very notable feature of this species is its ability to withstand cooler temperatures. Pubescens grows at higher elevations than other species, and cannot survive the tropical heat in the lowlands. There are several cultivars of C. pubescens; most are rarely cultivated, and are now relatively scarce. Cultivars include 'Canario' (yellow), 'Manzano' (red), 'Peron' (pear-shaped), and 'Rocoto Longo', developed in the Canary Islands.

Manzano (also known as Tree Pepper, Chile Peron, Chile Caballo, and Chile Ciruelo) is a Spanish word meaning “apple”. It is pronounced: mahn zah noh. Manzano chiles are relatives of the hot and spicy South American rocoto peppers. Manzano’s are most often used in their fresh form because the pods are thick and difficult to dry. The manzano apple pepper is unusual in that it has black seeds. It is resistant to low temperatures and is generally grown at high altitudes. It turns to a yellow-orange, then red color when reaching maturity. The Manzano pepper typically rates between 6,000 and 40,000 Scoville units on the Scoville heat...

Equations and Symbols

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Soluable Salt Ranges

Keeping up on your soluble salt range is important. Always have an instrument at hand to check your nutrient levels. The below chart is a general guide as to what levels are acceptable or not.

Desireable

Permisable

Dangerous

EC

.75-2 mS

2-3 mS

3 mS & ↑

PPM

500-1300

1300-2000

2000 & ↑

Electrical Conductivity (EC) of a solution is a measure of ionic compounds dissolved in water. Organic Nutrients are ionic compounds. Another name for ionic compounds is salts. Assuming the water had very little EC before you added the liquid fertilizer, measuring the EC will tell us how much fertilizer we have in our liquid. EC is commonly measured in milli-siemens (mS) and/or Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) expressed in Parts Per Million (PPM). Both will give you the same information of how much fertilizer is in your liquid. The EC and PPM are always in relation. So stating the EC and PPM is redundant. The relationship is 1 EC (measured in mS) = 650 PPM.

About BioChar Pyrolysis

Quote from:
Daniel D. Warnock & Johannes Lehmann & Thomas W. Kuyper & Matthias C. Rillig
"Biochar is a term reserved for the plant biomass derived
materials contained within the black carbon
(BC) continuum. This definition includes chars and
charcoal, and excludes fossil fuel products or geogenic
carbon (Lehmann et al. 2006). Materials
forming the BC continuum are produced by partially
combusting (charring) carbonaceous source materials,
e.g. plant tissues (Schmidt and Noack 2000; Preston
and Schmidt 2006; Knicker 2007), and have both
natural as well as anthropogenic sources. Restricting the oxygen supply during combustion can prevent complete combustion (e.g., carbon volatilization and
ash production) of the source materials. When plant
tissues are used as raw materials for biochar production,
heat produced during combustion volatilizes a
significant portion of the hydrogen and oxygen, along
with some of the carbon contained within the plant’s
tissues (Antal and Gronli 2003; Preston and Schmidt
2006).... Depending on the temperatures
reached during combustion and the species identity
of the source material, a biochar’s chemical and
physical properties may vary (Keech et al. 2005;
Gundale and DeLuca 2006). For example, coniferous biochars generated at lower temperatures, e.g. 350°C, can contain larger amounts of available nutrients,
while having a smaller sorptive capacity for cations
than biochars generated at higher temperatures, e.g.
800°C (Gundale and DeLuca 2006). Furthermore,
plant species with many large diameter cells in their
stem tissues can lead to greater quantities of macropores
in biochar particles. Larger numbers of macropores
can for example enhance the ability of biochar
to adsorb larger molecules such as phenolic compounds
(Keech et al. 2005)."
Check out the entire report at:
Mycorrhizal Responses to Biochar in Soil–Concepts and Mechanisms"

Biochar & Fungi Relationship

Cation Exchange Capacity Information Blurb

The total CEC is impacted by these factors:
Amount of active humus such as compost, Amount of passive humus such as Biochar, The pyrolysis method of the Biochar added, Was the Biochar activated and/or inoculated? The type and amount of microorganisms, and The overall pH